StarMetro (bus service)

Also operates Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, Veterans' Day & Day after Thanksgiving

Also operates New Year's Day, Memorial Day, 4th of July & Labor Day

StarMetro also offers two "FLEX" route which connects residents in the Lake Jackson area to the Lake Jackson town center, where riders can transfer to the Big Bend and Forest routes. The other "FLEX" route serves residents in the Southside, where riders can transfer to the Dogwood, Gulf, Live Oak and Moss routes. Riders must call StarMetro two hours before they wish to be picked up in order to use the FLEX routes.

Dial-A-Ride provides curb-to-curb transportation to citizens with a qualifying disability within 3/4 mile of StarMetro's fixed route system in compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act. Riders can schedule their rides online or over the phone up to fourteen days in advance. The service costs $2.50 per ride.

Dial-A-Ride Hours of Operation:

• Weekdays, 5 a.m. to 11 p.m.
• Saturdays, 5:45 a.m. to 7:45 p.m.
• Sundays, 10:30 a.m. to 7 p.m.
• Certain holidays are excluded.

StarMetro operates eight fixed routes on the campus of Florida State University when class is in session. StarMetro has been providing campus transportation to FSU since 1973.[1] The FSU Nite Nole route operates Monday through Saturday nights. These routes are free to the public and connect campus with nearby student housing facilities. In Fall 2019, FSU signed a 10 year contract with StarMetro to continue providing campus bus services. As part of the new contract, StarMetro began purchasing all electric buses to run exclusively on FSU campus routes.[2] Each Proterra Catalyst FC bus costs approximately $719,000 with a battery lease.[3] The first campus route to go fully electric was the Heritage Route. Beginning in 2020, campus bus routes and times have been altered in order to prepare for the full roll out of electric buses across all routes. FSU is installing two overhead charging stations at their Doak Campbell Stadium bus stop and at Stadium Drive and Spirit Way. Currently, the university pays StarMetro a fee of $91.45/bus/hour to operate campus routes.

StarMetro used to also provide fixed routes on the Florida A&M University campus, but this was discontinued when the institution decided not to renew its contract with the agency and began providing campus shuttle services in-house [4].

StarMetro's main station is C.K. Steele Plaza ("the plaza"), which was named for the Reverend Charles Kenzie Steele. It is located at 111 West Tennessee Street in downtown Tallahassee on the block bordered by Tennessee Street, Adams Street, Call Street, and Duval Street. The plaza features 24 covered gates for passenger boarding and alighting. Amenities at the plaza include restrooms, covered seating areas, bus driver lounge, and a customer service booth. Fourteen out of the 15 regularly scheduled weekday routes (Azalea, Big Bend, Dogwood, Evergreen, Forest, Gulf, Hartsfield, Killearn, Moss, Park, Red Hills, San Luis, Tall Timbers and Southwood Express) stop at the plaza, in addition to The Heritage Route serving Florida State University Campus, making it the single busiest stop in the system. In addition to StarMetro busses, Steele Plaza serves as the eastern terminus of the Gadsden Express route, which connects the residents of Quincy and Midway to Tallahassee. The new Havana Express connects with Big Bend & Forest Routes at Lake Jackson.

Plans to renovate the plaza and turn it into a mixed-use facility to include bus bays, StarMetro office space, and even leasable office space have been proposed. However, funding has not yet been procured.

The headquarters for StarMetro are located at 555 Appleyard Drive at the corner of Appleyard and Jackson Bluff Road. Only two routes pass this facility (Forest and Live Oak). Located on this property are administrative offices, a bus maintenance facility, bus parking lot, call center, and customer service window. StarMetro is planning to relocate their bus storage and maintenance facility to a larger plot of land to accommodate for their growing fleet.

Bus stops are referred to as Star Stops, and they are denoted by a rectangular blue sign featuring a white star, route in appropriate color that serves particular location & days of operation. Stops served exclusively by FSU Campus Routes have a different sign with the Seminole Express logo and FSU colors. Many stops have no amenities, while the busier stops and transfer points have various amenities including benches, waste containers, and/or covered shelters.

StarMetro plans to construct a series of "Super Stops" that will serve as transfer points in places where three or more routes currently or potentially intersect. These stops will be on a smaller scale of C.K. Steele Plaza and will feature covered walkways, benches, restrooms, and vending machines. StarMetro has plans to build three Super Stops on South Adams Street, North Monroe Street, and Hartsfield Road (near Mission Road). Each Super Stop is estimated to cost $3 million to construct. [7]

A temporary park, costing $300,000 is being constructed at the future South Side Super Stop on the corner of Orange and Meridian Roads. Funding for the Super Stop, which comes from a penny sales tax, will not be available until 2020. [8]

Currently, StarMetro operates a mix of Gillig and Proterra buses on their fixed routes. Their buses are powered by diesel, CNG, or battery electric.[9] In March 2020, StarMetro began fabricating barriers to separate drivers from passengers as a response to COVID-19 [10].

Year	Builder and model name	Photo	Length (feet)	Width (inches)	Numbers	Notes
2000	Gillig Trolley		35 ft (10.67 m)	102 in (2.59 m)	0039–0043	Used for The Midtown College Town & Dinner Route. Fleet includes both open-air and closed trollies, depending on weather conditions.
2005	Gillig Advantage G29B102N4	Bus 508 pulling up to a stop	35 ft (10.67 m)	102 in (2.59 m)	0501 0503-0505 & 0508	Equipped with wheelchair lifts & bicycle racks. Used as spare buses. 0507 is used as a Training Bus.
2006	Gillig BRT G29E102R2		29 ft (8.84 m)	102 in (2.59 m)	0601	Equipped with wheelchair lifts & bicycle racks.
2007	Gillig BRT G29D102N4 (0702–0706), G27D102N4 (0707–0710)		41 ft (12.50 m)	102 in (2.59 m)	0702–0710	Equipped with wheelchair lifts & bicycle racks.
2009	Gillig BRT G27B102N4	Bus 0901 pulling up to a stop	35 ft (10.67 m)	102 in (2.59 m)	0903-0904	Equipped with wheelchair lifts & bicycle racks. Buses are featured in a unique Florida State color scheme and shuttle passengers from and within FSU.
2009	Gillig BRT G27B102N4		35 ft (10.67 m)	102 in (2.59 m)	0901,0902,0905-0908	Equipped with wheelchair lifts & bicycle racks.
2010	Gillig BRT G27D102N4		41 ft (12.50 m)	102 in (2.59 m)	1001-1002,1004–1012	1003 Involved in crash on July 20, 2019, damaging front end and has not been returned to service.[11] Equipped with wheelchair lifts & bicycle racks.
2011	Gillig BRT G27B102N4		35 ft (10.67 m)	102 in (2.59 m)	1101–1103	Equipped with wheelchair lifts & bicycle racks.
2011	Gillig BRT G27D102N4		41 ft (12.50 m)	102 in (2.59 m)	1104–1105	Equipped with wheelchair lifts & bicycle racks.
2012	Proterra EcoRide BE35		35 ft (10.67 m)		E002–E003	Electric powered. Equipped with wheelchair lifts & bicycle racks. Originally wrapped in livery that advertised no tailpipe emissions and were used on city-wide routes. Buses were re-wrapped in new FSU livery beginning in Fall 2019 when they began operating on FSU campus routes exclusively.
2012	Gillig BRT		41 ft (12.50 m)		1201–1202	Equipped with wheelchair lifts & bicycle racks.
2013	Proterra EcoRide BE35		35 ft (10.67 m)		E004-E005	Electric powered. Equipped with wheelchair lifts & bicycle racks. Originally wrapped in livery that advertised no tailpipe emissions and were used on city-wide routes. Buses were re-wrapped in new FSU livery beginning in Fall 2019 when they began operating on FSU campus routes exclusively.
2013	Gillig BRT		41 ft (12.50 m)		1301–1302	Equipped with wheelchair lifts & bicycle racks.
2015	Gillig Advantage CNG		29 ft (8.84 m)		FRG1501–1503	CNG Powered. Equipped with wheelchair lifts & bicycle racks.
2017	Gillig Advantage CNG		35 ft (10.67 m)		1701–1706	CNG Powered. Equipped with wheelchair lifts & bicycle racks.
2018	Gillig Advantage CNG		35 ft (10.67 m)		1801–1803	CNG Powered. Equipped with wheelchair lifts & bicycle racks.
2019	Proterra Catalyst FC[12]		35 ft (10.67 m)	102 in (2.59 m)	1901-1915	Battery-electric powered. Equipped with wheelchair lifts & bicycle racks. Wrapped in new FSU livery. #1910 is wrapped in additional "City of Tallahassee" logos.

StarMetro operates a mixed fleet of vehicles for its FLEX and Dial-A-Ride routes. [13]

Model Year	Manufacturer/Model	Chassis	Photo	Length	Numbers	Notes
2012	Champion Challenger				2301
2014	Champion Challenger				1401-1403
2014	Mobility Ventures MV-1			205 in	2219-2222
2015	Champion Challenger				1501
2016	Turtletop Oddessy	Ford E450			1631-1644
2017	Champion LF Transport				1645-1648